Context Management

Git status snapshot, CLAUDE.md auto-discovery, and per-conversation context caching.

Git status snapshot

At session start, if the working directory is a git repo:

1. Run git status --short, git log --oneline -n 5, git config user.name
2. Capture branch, default branch, and user name
3. Truncate status to 2000 characters if output exceeds limit
4. Format and cache for session duration

Truncation message: If status exceeds 2k chars:

... (truncated because it exceeds 2k characters. If you need more information, run "git status" using BashTool)

Reasons for truncation:

• Prevent context bloat in large repos with many changes
• Reduce token usage
• Users can run git status manually if needed

Example output

This is the git status at the start of the conversation. Note that this status is a snapshot in time, and will not update during the conversation.
Current branch: feature/docs
Main branch (you will usually use this for PRs): main
Git user: Alice Zenner
Status:
M docs/Sessions/README.md
 M src/context.ts
?? new-file.ts

Recent commits:
a1b2c3d Fix context caching
b2c3d4e Add session lifecycle docs
c3d4e5f Initial session system

When git status is excluded

Git status is not included if:

• Working directory is not a git repo
• shouldIncludeGitInstructions() returns false (disabled via settings)
• NODE_ENV === 'test'
• Error occurs during git commands (logged, skipped gracefully)

CLAUDE.md auto-discovery

At session start, Claude Code looks for ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md:

1. Read file from user’s home directory
2. Filter for potentially sensitive content (API keys, credentials)
3. Cache as string for conversation lifetime
4. Inject into system context on each turn

Disabling auto-discovery

Auto-discovery is skipped if:

• CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_CLAUDE_MDS env var set
• --bare CLI flag passed
• File not readable (permission denied, not found)

Per-conversation context caching

Context functions are memoized for the duration of a single conversation:

getSystemContext()  → cached
getUserContext()    → cached

Memoization details:

• Input: Current working directory (cwd)
• Output: Formatted system/user context strings
• Lifetime: Entire conversation (from session start to /exit)
• Cache cleared on: setSystemPromptInjection() called

Benefits:

• Avoid re-reading CLAUDE.md on every turn
• Avoid re-running git commands repeatedly
• Consistent context across turns

Cache invalidation

Manually clear context cache:

setSystemPromptInjection(value)  // Clears both caches

This is used internally for ephemeral debugging state (ant-only feature).

Context includes

Each turn’s system prompt includes (in order):

1. Model instructions (from Claude Code)
2. Git status (if in repo and enabled)
3. CLAUDE.md contents (if found and not disabled)
4. Recent commands/hooks context
5. Session-specific instructions (e.g., --bare mode disables #2 and #3)

Total size before compaction: typically 1–5k tokens.

---

← Back to Sessions/README.md